In the same week researchers at the University of Colorado concluded that fewer police mean more crime on the streets, elected leaders in Aurora gave their cops more tools — in the form of stiffer penalties — to rein in lawbreakers.

Granted, the findings released by CU-Boulder didn’t exactly amount to a stunner. More like common sense, really. As reported by The Denver Gazette, the study examined 78 Denver neighborhoods and found that after police had scaled back their presence following the May 2020 George Floyd murder and the COVID-19 pandemic, on average, property and violent crime reports increased 27.1% and 14.3%, respectively, across Denver. Enough said.

Meanwhile, as The Gazette also reported this week, Aurora’s City Council stepped up the penalties for retail theft as well as for dining and dashing in Colorado’s No. 3 city.

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A law adopted by the council in 2023 had set a three-day minimum mandatory jail sentence for theft of merchandise worth $300 or more. On Monday, the council lowered that threshold to $100 in stolen goods. And repeat offenders in Aurora now will face at least 90 days in jail. The minimum sentence rises to 180 days for someone convicted of retail theft at least twice.

The council also applied the three-day minimum sentence to offenders involved in “defrauding a public establishment” — not paying after dining at an eatery — for meals priced $15 or more.

All of which makes sense and serves as a reminder to more lenient jurisdictions, like Denver next door, that ensuring crime doesn’t pay is the surest way to keep thieves at bay.

Aurora has been hit as hard as any Colorado community by the epic crime wave that slammed the state in recent years. Yet, unlike our “justice reform”-minded Legislature — which keeps indulging and coddling criminals with measures that water down accountability — the majority of Aurora’s elected leaders have reserved their compassion for crime’s victims. Notably, by giving some much-needed backup to the city’s law-abiding residents and its merchants.

Aurorans are fed up with rampant theft — especially shoplifting and cars — and have set an example for other local governments by pumping up their own laws to crack down. Absent any help from the Legislature in beating back the crime wave, Aurora proves cities have at least some ability to fight back and retake their streets.

Colorado’s state lawmakers haven’t just gone AWOL in the crime fight, they’ve gone rogue. The laws they have enacted in recent years — decriminalizing drugs, easing parole, cutting incarcerations — have fostered the very crime that inevitably has ensued.

Local governments like Aurora are compelled to step up to the plate since the state won’t.

Of course, naive advocates of justice reform always seem to be on hand to criticize those who take needed action.

“…Instead of looking at being more punitive — which research shows does not work and is ineffective in preventing crime, reducing crime and making the community safer — we need to look at putting money toward prevention,” the NAACP’s Jamie Jackson told council members shortly before their vote for tougher penalties.

Ineffective? Jailing Aurora’s thieves will in fact accomplish two things: They’ll learn not to mess with Aurora — and, by definition, they won’t be able to steal so long as they’re behind bars. Sounds pretty effective, doesn’t it?

Kudos to Aurora City Council’s Danielle Jurinsky, who sponsored the tougher laws, and compliments to her fellow council members who voted with her. They can ignore their critics; their rank-and-file constituents will thank them.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board